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Today I ran and ran all day at the hotel. It was wonderful. I was busy. Life was moving at a fast pace. Last night I went to a PIM banquet and listened to Pastor Judy tell stories that made me cry, and said things that my ears needed to hear. I have a new outlook on life, and moving at a fast pace after last night. Judy said there are so many dates circled on our life calendar, and we are all looking forward to that circle- we miss all the dates in between. I am guilty of this. Right now I can't wait for Summer. Lately my thoughts seem to say- 'life will be easier in the summer, I will be 5 lbs lighter and tan in the summer, Sten won't be in school in the summer, we are going on vacation in the summer, ravina is in the summer, bike rides are in the summer....' What about now? What am I missing out on now? I am on a quest to live in the moment.... Don't know exactly how I am going to go about this, but I'm going to try real hard with a couple tips from Judy.
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I have a lot to look forward to this weekend. Not only do I get to run 13.1 miles with my dearest friend on Sunday, I get to see my Grandma, mom, cousins, aunts, uncles, sister and brother-in-law on Saturday. So many wonderful people in one small little town! Emily and I are trying to decide what to wear and we just enlisted Sten to come up with our slogan because he is so witty! Speaking of Sten-- he made me dinner tonight! I know, you should be jealous- look how cute he is. He made honey bbq meatloaf, salad with strawberries, feta and candied almonds and veggies. I am a very lucky lady. I am obsessed with this new blog. It is very inspirational- and is chalk full of beautiful pictures and yummy recipes. I love looking at other peoples blogs. Check out Anne's awesome blog, she does beautiful art and I want to buy one of her water colors to spruce up our home. My friend Andrew told me in order to stick out in the blogging world I should start video-blogging. It's going to take…

Megan made these ADORABLE chick cupcakes from Martha Stewart. Sten and I all bundled up for our first Cubs game of the season. Old fashioned egg dying. I don't know if you could call that beautiful or not? This egg is special! We wrapped certain eggs in silk ties and then boiled them in vinegar water. The imprint of the fabric transferred onto the egg. Peter's turned out the best :) Phew! What a whirlwind of a week! But a very good one, none the less. We were able to do so many fun things, it reminds me why I love living in the city. On Tuesday Sten and I went to Pizza Arte Cafe. What a hidden gem! It's a BYOB Italian joint right off the Rockwell stop. We had the time of our lives, tasting delicious food and talking about our day. We decided going out on a Tuesday made us feel way more adventurous then it should have. We have been stuck in this rut where we don't do anything during the week- but really... who said you can't go out on a Tuesday night? We broke some rule…

I have a few minutes before Sten gets home from class. Its relatively quiet in the apartment, besides the frequent sirens and the trucks that shake our building. I've turned off the music... Sometimes you just need a little quiet.I need more of that as I find out things about myself. I always thought I was an extravert, but as time goes on I am realizing time alone gives me much needed energy. I am really going to try to use my alone time for good this week. Being intentional about what I do when I have a quiet moment to myself. I can't wait to see Sten. I made panko bread crumb crusted parmesan tilapia, roasted cauliflower and mashed potatoes for dinner. It's going to be a very white plate... with red wine to go with. The perfect end to a Monday. xoxo. edc

This is from our first Easter together. I made Sten dye eggs with me. I thought this was normal, until I realized boys really have NO interest in dying eggs. It was a great weekend.Some highlights include: - byob (Simply It) with Joel and Megan - Spring clean in apt. #302. - 7 loads of laundry clean, folded and put away. - A trip to Goodwill. - Saturday night in Geneva - Sunday morning watching Sten lead worship at Batavia. Always gives me chills when I see him up there singing with his guitar- he is SO handsome. - Egg Harbor and great chats with my beautiful Mother-in-law - Grocery store run to re-stock the cupboards - Hand and Foot and a great dinner with friends. Being in Geneva with Meredith was so nice. I love having girl chats with her. There are always so many laughs especially when Sten starts telling stories. I hope I have the same love for my children as Meredith so evidently has for hers. It's Holy week and I hope I can remember that this week as I go along and through my days. My…

Heavenly!
Good morning! This Saturday was much needed. I have worked 12 days straight... enough said. Its been a great morning so far. I slept in and woke up with some renewed energy- to BLOG! :) I wanted to share my very favorite recipe with you-- and maybe you can make these tomorrow for an after church Brunch!
My favorite thing about this recipe is you only need one bowl. For someone without a dishwasher, that's a pretty big deal. The other great thing about it, is that you don't need eggs! How many times on a Saturday morning do you want to make pancakes, but you're out of eggs?? Well, now your problem is solved.
Here's the recipe. Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins From: Mama PrintYield 20 muffins 350 degrees 17-20 mins
1/2 Cup Butter or Marg
1 Cup Sugar
2 Bananas (ripe and mashed)
2 Cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 …

I get all bottled up on blogging when I have a little time-- so here's another one. Today was one of those, 'i am so anxious because it is beautiful outside and all i want to do is bask in the sunshine all day and i am stuck inside' kind of days. It was 85 degrees out! I worked until noon and then ran home from work. It was really great. It ended up being 10.9 miles, but let me tell you, even if I wasn't training for a half marathon, I would still want to do that today. Lake shore was bursting with people-- bikers, walkers, rollerbladers, skateboarders, slow joggers, fast runners, baby's and their mamma's, pregnant women, girls in bikinis, guys with extremely white chests and no shirts on.... it definitely made the run go by so much faster with all the great people-watching I was able to do. When I got home I was so excited to be with Sten outside... we got starbucks (iced coffee with 2 pumps white mocha for him, and iced passion tea for me) and went for a long…

Don't you think food looks so much more appetizing when it's in colorful bowls? It makes the table more inviting. I hope you enjoy these taco's as much as Sten and I did. Thank you mom and dad for the slow cooker... it is another great addition to our little home. xoxo.

This little note was waiting for me when I came home the other day, and I refuse to let Sten take it down... In case you can't read it- it says: LOVE YOU -Sten Happy Saturday. It has been a busy week, that is for sure. Some highlights include: - Coming home Tuesday and making leftovers - Meeting Andrew at Equinox and working out downtown in a nice gym. By the way, if you need a trainer, Andrew is your man. He always comes up with interesting new workouts and ways to make your muscles BURN. - SURVIVOR night with Sten. Yep, that's right, we still watch that show every week, AND we love it. - Thursday-- face time with my sister-in-law... then I made some delicious turkey burgers with spinach and feta cheese. We enjoyed a meal with our friends Joel and Megan and then went to see Storyhill in Hamming Hall. Also found out that Sten has a total man-crush on Johnny (one of the musicians.) - Friday night Sten and I made homemade pizza and watched The Fighter. I recommend it! Spring is so he…

New table- Thank you Carlson side of the family! Please come over, we have LOTS of space! Well. Its a good day, thats for sure. I have a lot to blog about! First of all here is where I am on my list - Run my 10 miles. -- check - Do some laundry -- half check - Blog -- check - Make cards and write some letters - Use my crock-pot for the FIRST time! -- check - Spring clean? -- half check - Target run -- check - Talk to Emily over her lunch break I would say I got a pretty good start on my day! I already wrote about the bread I made yesterday- and Sten said I shouldn't blog twice in one day, but- this is MY blog, hence the title erica danielle. So I think I can do whatever I want. I wanted to share some highlights of my day: - Bought the new Hillsong CD Aftermath sooo good. Love every song so far. - Coffee with Julie M and Sten - Picked up my dry cleaning from North Park Cleaners-- very impressed! - Threw orange zest and the juice, chipotles in adobo sauce, garlic and pork shoulder (?) in my croc…

Made some bread yesterday. I don't know what I did wrong. It definitely didn't rise quite as much as I would have liked, but it was still SOO tasty. Sten and I enjoyed it with a light tossed salad and homemade salad dressing. I think that is the perfect dinner. I could eat that almost every night. Here it is:Oatsy, Nutsy, Seedsy... Wheatsy Bread from http://noshings.blogspot.com/ Weigh up a nice potato, you'll need at least 8 ounces of potato after its peeled.

Dice it up and in a saucepan, cover it with at least a cup of water or so.
Boil until its soft.

Once its soft, remove the potato from the water, weigh out 8 ounces of boiled potato.
You'll also need 3 1/2 ounces of the potato water, add that to your potato.

Mash the potato in the water with a fork until you get a mushy mash. That sounded redundant. Set aside to cool off.

Great Friends Good form Peter! Its been a great weekend. Full of games, coffee, relaxation and basketball. One of the highlights of my weekend so far was yesterday when Sten taught me some moves on the court. We have very different interests when it comes to how we spend our time at the gym. I could run on the treadmill for hours whereas Sten would rather shoot hoops or play basketball. Sometimes on a Saturday we play a round or two of horse, but I get bored after I am at h-o-r-s, and he is at nothing. But yesterday was different. He took the time and showed me the fundamentals and chased after the ball for me while I shot in the same place forever trying to get 5 in a row. He is such a patient teacher. He was so encouraging and told me at one point- "you're such a good athlete, once you get down the form, you'll do great"... It was so fun to actually make a few baskets and do something fun together. Each time we are on the court inevitably at one point Sten is on the …

Freshman year-- oh how we've changed.Well, hello Friday! Yesterday was a pretty big day. I just found out that one of the sweetest Thompson Valley Seniors is soon to be a North Park Viking. I feel like a proud parent. I know that many would not feel this way, but I have a pretty immense sense of pride for my alma mater. I feel so lucky to have been a graduate of NPU. I think back on my college years and any bad memory escapes me and I only think of the amazing people I met, the crazy things we did, the friends that will be lifelong, and the discoveries I made about myself. I have the most vivid memory of moving in my Freshman year and meeting Karoline for the first time. Who knew we would come to be close friends-myself as an unsure, PK Minnesotan and this beauty (inside and out) from Maryland? I experienced a new city (Chicago), a lot of new sports (rowing, ultimate frisbee, marathon running), a new country (Italy), a true Chicago apartment (3222), a new love (Sten), the greatest r…